When this initially happened on Friday, I was on the phone with BuyDomains discussing what was going on and quite frankly, How I could capture a few of the domains myself.
Granted. I will admit, no one at any point said "This must be an error" The few conversations I had, made it clear that NameMedia had no idea it was a promotion (if it actually had been one).
Now, lets say for a moment it was in fact a promotion / marketing gimmick. The method and the way this was conducted didn't create much buzz until after the fact, they also aren't making it easier to buy domains from them by not distributing a complete listing.
Even if this is the direction they wanted to go (releasing quality domains for pennies on the dollar) it would've been smart to announce it before hand, to create a build-up type buzz. They didn't do that in this case, in fact, we still have not really "heard" from iReit regarding the issue altogether.
So, my opinion that this was an error and not a marketing technique is based on what the conversations I had with BuyDomains and my own common sense.
I will make it a point to call iReit on Monday and ask why this happened and what its purpose was.
Justin Allen
NameBio.com